Earhart, AmeliaAmelia Earhart (July 24, 1897 - June 1937) was an American aviator who broke many world flying records. Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic as an airplane passenger (1928), the first woman to pilot a plane across the Atlantic Ocean (1932) and the first woman to pilot a plane from Hawaii to California (1935).

Earhart married George Palmer Putnam (1887-1950) in 1931.

Earhart and Fred Noonan (her navigator) disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in June 1937, while on an attempted flight around the world. They had completed two-thirds of their circumnavigation of the Earth. The last radio transmission received from Earhart's plane included, "Gas is running low..." as they searched for Howland Island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Neither Earhart, Noonan, nor the plane have ever been found.

Eastman, GeorgeGeorge Eastman (1854-1932) was an American inventor who made many improvements in photography. Eastman invented the dry plate method in 1879; this was an improvement in the wet plate process photographic process). He founded the Eastman Dry Plate company in 1881, located in Rochester, New York. Eastman and William Walker invented flexible roll film in 1882, eliminating the necessity of using cumbersome glass plates for photography. Eastman produced the first simple, all-purpose, fixed-focus camera in 1888, which sold for $25.00; this was the first KODAK Camera . By 1900, Eastman Kodak was producing a camera that cost only one dollar. Early cameras took round pictures. To get the film developed, the photographer had to send the entire camera to the Rochester factory. The company name was changed to Eastman Kodak Company in 1892, and is still one of the largest photographic companies in the world.

Eckert, John PresperENIAC stands for "Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer." It was one of the first all-purpose, all-electronic digital computers. This room-sized computer was built by the physicist John William Mauchly (Aug. 30, 1907 - Jan. 8, 1980) and the electrical engineer John Presper Eckert, Jr. (April 9, 1919 - June 3, 1995) at the University of Pennsylvania. They completed the machine in November, 1945.

Edison, Thomas AlvaThomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was an American inventor (also known as the Wizard of Menlo Park) whose many inventions revolutionized the world. His work includes improving the incandescent electric light bulb and inventing the phonograph, the phonograph record, the carbon telephone transmitter, and the motion-picture projector.

Edison's first job was as a telegraph operator, and in the course of his duties, he redesigned the stock-ticker machine. The Edison Universal Stock Printer gave him the capital ($40,000) to set up a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, to invent full-time (with many employees).

Edison experimented with thousands of different light bulb filaments to find just the right materials to glow well, be long-lasting, and be inexpensive. In 1879, Edison discovered that a carbon filament in an oxygen-free bulb glowed but did not burn up for quite a while. This incandescent bulb revolutionized the world.

Einstein, AlbertAlbert Einstein (1879-1955) was a German/American physicist. He revolutionized our conception of the universe with his Theories of Special and General Relativity.

Special relativity supplanted Newtonian mechanics, yielding different results for very fast-moving objects. The Theory of Special Relativity is based on the idea that speed has an upper bound; nothing can pass the speed of light. The theory also states that time and distance measurements are not absolute but are instead relative to the observer's frame of reference. Space and time are viewed as aspects of a single phenomenon, called space-time. Energy and momentum are similarly linked. As a result, mass can be converted into huge amounts of energy, and vice versa, according to the formula E=mc2.

General Relativity expands the theory to include acceleration and gravity, both of which are explained via the curvature of space-time.

Eisenhower, Dwight D.Dwight David Eisenhower ("Ike") (1890-1969) was the 34th president of the United States. Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890 in Denison, Texas. General Eisenhower was the Supreme Allied Commander in World War II. During his presidency, Eisenhower increased social welfare programs. Eisenhower worked to bring peace to the world; in 1953, he helped end the Korean War. He helped create the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in order to stop the spread of communism. In 1954, after the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools was illegal, Eisenhower sent US troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to help integrate the public schools. Eisenhower was president from 1953 until 1961. He died on March 28, 1969, in Washington, D.C.

Electoral CollegeThe Electoral College is a group of people who formally elect the president of the USA (their vote happens after the popular vote). The Electoral College is composed of delegates from each state (plus the District of Columbia). (The number of delegates from each state is equal to the sum of that state's Senators plus Representatives.) According to the US Constitution, the electors (chosen by popular vote) assemble in their respective state capitals on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December and vote for president. Electors are supposed to vote for the candidate who received a plurality of votes in the state or area they represent. To become president, a candidate must get more than half of the Electoral College votes (270 out of 538 votes).

Executive BranchThe Executive Branch is the part of the US government that administers the laws and other affairs of the government; it includes the President (also called the Chief Executive), the President's staff, executive agencies (the Office of Management and Budget, the National Security Council, etc.) and Cabinet departments (like the State Department, the Dept. of Defense, the Dept. of Agriculture, etc.).

Elion, GertrudeGertrude Belle Elion (January 23, 1918 - February 21, 1999) was a Nobel Prize winning biochemist who invented many life-saving drugs, including 6-mercaptopurine (Purinethol) and 6-thioguanine (which fight leukemia), Imuran, Zovirax, and many others. Elion worked at Burroughs-Wellcome (now called Glaxo Wellcome) for decades (beginning in 1944) with George Hitchings and Sir James Black, with whom she shared the Nobel Prize. She is named on 45 patents for drugs and her work has saved the lives of thousands of people.

Epperson, FrankThe popsicle was invented by 11-years-old Frank Epperson in 1905. Epperson (1894-?) lived in San Francisco, California. Epperson had left a fruit drink out overnight (with a stirrer in it), and it froze, making a new treat. His frozen treat was originally called the Epsicle. Epperson got a patent on his "frozen ice on a stick" many years later, in 1923. The Epsicle was later renamed the popsicle. Epperson also invented the twin popsicle (with two sticks so it could be shared by two children), Fudgsicle, Creamsicle and Dreamsicle.

EstevanicoEstevanico (pronounced es-tay-vahn-EE-co), also called Estevan, Esteban, Estebanico, Black Stephen, and Stephen the Moor (1500?-1539) was a Muslim slave from northern Africa (Azamor, Morocco) who was one of the early explorers of the Southwestern United States.